Bite me. [Goblin!]

[Rhindeer]

Those growls sent a primal shiver down Katxiel's spine, not to mention that feline glare that looked like he wanted to murder her--which, yes? Please? Get it over with!

But then he was nudging the stone closer, and Katxiel let out a sigh of exasperation. "I can't," she said, paling as she stole another look at the dismembered leg. "Even if I wanted to, I can't. I-I don't know how to use that!"

[GoblinFae]

A deep long-suffering sigh and Fintan sank to his belly, all four paws splaying out before and behind him. So humans required specific abilities to make the warm dancing light. Not just any of their kind could do it and of course he had managed to find the dud of the group. This was just his luck.

Fine. If she didn't want to make the light and cook her food she could eat it raw like him. Grabbing the shorn leg, with a twist of his neck he was able to fling it directly into her lap. Looking from the meat to her he growled again in warning. She better not protest now. This was a perfectly good, healthy kill! Any tigress would be deeply impressed with his hunting skill. Figures a human wouldn't know good food if it literally smacked her in the face.

[Rhindeer]

SPLAT.

A gooey, bloody, mangled leg flopped into Katxiel's lap, and she let out a scream and reflexively threw it back at him before she was even aware she was doing it. Dizzy and wobbly, she bolted to her feet, swaying dangerously and not caring as the furs fell off of her, because oh dear GODS—!

"That was not okay!" It was supposed to be a commanding yell, but it came out as more of a weak croak. "I don't want it! I won't eat it! I—ooh." A wave of dizziness sent her crumpling back to her knees, holding her head with one hand. "Stop playing with me!"

[GoblinFae]

If tigers were capable of displaying the full range of disgust and displeasure Fintan was currently experiencing his furry face certainly would have had it written across it in spades. An angry snarl exploded from deep within his chest though as the food was hurled back into his face. 

Ungrateful wretch!

Served her right as he watched her drop to her knees again. The tiger sat back on his haunches, tail flicking angrily as he continued to stare and huff repeatedly. She left him no choice. She wouldn't eat and if she wouldn't eat then she would grow weaker and sicker and die and her meat would be spoiled in that case, not at all worth consuming for all his wasted time and energy.

Mind made up, he rose quickly and pounced. Her ankle was caught in his powerful jaws before he turned literal tail and began to waddle drag her out of the cave and towards the nearest water source. 

[Rhindeer]

This was a nightmare! She was supposed to have died when she was peacefully unaware, but instead her God saw fit to torture her for whatever reason! She'd been dragged to a cave, had body parts thrown at her, and now--

The tiger pounced, and Katxiel screamed. Logic told her this was what was supposed to happen, that he was supposed to attack and end her, but every survival instinct in her body fired off in defiance--Gods help her, she did not want to die. She tried to throw herself aside, but her body was still weak and sluggish, and she only managed to flop over before the tiger caught her ankle in his jaws, those massive fangs wrapped around her. It wouldn't take much to crush every bone there, but instead he started to drag her somewhere, and Katxiel felt something inside her snap. All the fear and grief she had tried so hard to keep at bay came crashing down all at once.

She struggled and clawed at the ground, breaking her once manicured and lacquered nails, and kicked feebly with her other leg, crying out and struggling as much as she could. The ground scratched at her naked body and she must have hit every rock and bush along the way, but she hardly cared as she fought like a feral thing, sobs catching in her throat.

[GoblinFae]

What was normally a few short minutes walk felt like an eternity as he slowly dragged her to the river. As it was, they did not even make it to the banks before she kicked true and he was suddenly howling, her ankle released from his fanged mouth as he whipped around to look at her in pained, betrayal. The tiger huffed and puffed in before glancing down between his legs to see if he was still intact or bled. Fortunate for her, he was well or else he would quickly reconsider if she looked tasty enough.

Fintan glared at her once more before sitting down on his haunches and crumbling into a tight furry ball. She could run or drown for all he cared. Scream to the top of her lungs even, perhaps his brother would come around and eat her instead. He'd been nothing but accommodating. And this was how she repaid his kindness? By crushing his most delicate organs? Rot! Curse the human, he needed his rest.

[Rhindeer]

Her foot hit something that made the tiger suddenly release her, uttering sounds she had never before heard a tiger make--not that Katxiel had been around any tigers before this. With a whimper, she scrambled away from him, but not far. She was too tired and hurt to get anywhere and besides...it wasn't like she could ever go back anyway.

How could she ever? How could she go home a failure? Who failed so hard that they couldn't get a wild tiger, a fierce apex predator known for eating humans, to kill them?! Was it even possible to be so bad at dying? To be rejected so harshly by the gods?

Scratched up and filthy now with leaves and dirt in her hair and mud caked on her naked body, Katxiel curled up opposite the tiger, hugging her knees to her chest. She stared at the beast even as he stared balefully at her, curled up in a strange way. (Had she kicked his belly that hard?) She sniffled, wiping fruitlessly at her eyes, feeling stupid for her tears but unable to stop them now that they had begun.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, pressing her face into her knees. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just...I don't understand what I'm doing wrong."

[GoblinFae]

Fintan huffed several times, whiskers twitching in deep displeasure before finally dragging himself up into an upright seated position and walk-crawling forward where his upper body was walking normal but his lower body was as close to the ground as possible. She wasn't going to be given a second opportunity to catch him off-guard. Instead he moved close and rested his chin on her arms, looking up at her softly, while keeping very still.

[Rhindeer]

Katxiel didn't know what she expected. Actually, she had zero expectations at this point because nothing had gone as planned. Still, when the tiger did that awkward half walk, half crawl over to her, it was so ridiculous that it surprised her enough to cut through her self-pity. A laugh bubbled up amongst the sobs and she swiped at her eyes again, feeling both like she was losing her mind and a little validated that this had to be some sort of cosmic joke.

Closer and closer he moved, and she held still and watched him, having given up on trying to predict what he was doing. A heavy, furry chin rested on her arms then, and she blinked at him to clear her blurred vision, peering into his eyes even though she had been told one should never do that with a predator.

Not like it mattered. He didn't seem keen to eat her, and now he was just...watching.

With a deep, sniffling breath, Katxiel finally looked away. "What do you want?"

[GoblinFae]

Fintan stared back eye to eye with her unchallenged with the eyes of an intelligent and perhaps even wise beast. At her question though he took pity on her a bit again. It was not her fault she was so slow and dull-witted. He closed his eyes and presses his forehead up against hers giving soft nuzzles and little huffs before more boldly brushing against her cheeks and shoulders like a cat marking her with his scent. Perhaps this would cheer her up a bit or at least make her more complacent with the idea of traversing to the water. 

[Rhindeer]

What the...?

The tiger was suddenly rubbing his head against her like an oversized house cat. Katxiel froze up, at first with tension and nerves--and then, much to her horror, fresh tears welled up and made the world go underwater again.

Unable to help herself, she threw her arms around the tiger's neck and clung to him, face buried in his neck as she dampened his fur, shoulders shaking. She was tired, she was confused, she was never more alone, and didn't know what to think anymore. As much as she was trying to be strong and brave, in that moment she felt her resistance shatter as she crumpled. It was stupid, it was embarrassing, and yet she couldn't help but cling to his warmth and affection.

"Why?" she muttered against him, still holding tight. "Why are you like this?"

[GoblinFae]

Fintan rumbled deeply as he nuzzled more against the human currently clinging to him. Her questions however illicit an unintentional snort and shoulder shake as he laughed at her. Why indeed? His brother certainly would be horrified to see the sight of him comforting a human instead of consuming or driving her away. He didn't really have an answer to it though, and honestly he didn't really care to think about it. The shifter simply did what he wanted and what he wanted was to not have humans on his lands disrupting his home.

Sitting up straighter onto his hindquarters, Fintan lifted off his front paws to wrap around her back, dragging the frail girl against his furry belly and chest in a claw-free tiger hug to let her cry it all out. It was a vast improvement if nothing else that she was no longer screaming or kicking. If she returned to the striking though he would not hesitate to take excessive force to avoid being wounded again.

[Rhindeer]

Wh...what the...?

The tiger shifted and put his paws on her, pulling her in, and Katxiel let out a surprised gasp as she sank deeper into a...hug? Was the tiger hugging her? Katxiel blinked in surprise, her sobs quieting, and slowly the tension eased out of her as she let herself slump against him in resigned silence.

She couldn't even begin to understand any of this. Tigers didn't hug people (unless they were clinging to them while eviscerating them, she supposed). But there were no claws involved here, and even stranger, all this time the tiger behaved like he could understand her, responding to her words with huffs and snorts and almost human body language. It made sense to her in a way; he was a god, was he not?

Except...

She rubbed her face against his fur, letting out a tired, defeated laugh. "Maybe you're the wrong god."

[GoblinFae]

Fintan huffed and shook in laughter. Wrong god indeed. Oh how simple his life would be if he really was a good. He could just eject her right into the new village and not have to worry about getting her nourished enough to be back on her feet. 

He nuzzled against her head more in a very cat-like fashion before cautiously attempting to pull away and take her wrist in his mouth. An equally gentle tug at the appendage followed as he attempted to once more lead her the rest of the way to the river if she would only cooperate with him. 

[Rhindeer]

The tiger moved away them--and then took her wrist in his mouth. Not to bite off her hand, but just to give it a tug, as though wanting to lead her. Katxiel was too tired to argue. And what options did she have, anyway? She was stuck out here with a tiger who refused to eat her. She had failed. She couldn't go home, but home was all she knew.

And so, tiredly, she rose to her feet and followed where he lead, her suspicions confirmed by his reaction. 

He was the wrong god. 

She had gotten the wrong god.

For a few moments she was quiet as she walked, biting her cheek as the thought tumbled in her head. Then, finally, she broke the silence. "Do you...know where the other tiger god is?"

[GoblinFae]

Fintan snort huffed in amusement much like a soft laugh. Other god indeed. If only she had met his brother, oh how she'd be begging and screaming and sobbing for life then. Still the idea of him as a god tickled him deeply. How easy life would be if only that were true! No more whining little girls that's for sure. 

He huffed again as he led her right to the water's edge and dropped her hand. Fintan plunged right into the river, rolling and swimming about to comfortably cool off and wash off without a care in the world for what she would do now. 

[Rhindeer]

She would take that as a no.

Katxiel sighed as she watched the tiger swim about with not a care in the world, her arms crossed over her chest. Well. She supposed she may as well get clean, if she was going to be stuck here for a while. And clothes! What was she supposed to do about that, since the tiger had so helpfully ripped them to pieces? She wasn't supposed to be alive still to worry about things like that!

She dipped a toe into the water, found it pleasantly cool, and stepped in all the way fast to get over the shock as quickly as possible. She ducked under the water and came back up for breath, hair a dark veil over her face before she parted it like a curtain.

It felt nice, the cool water soothing against her wounds and washing away her sweat and dirt. She washed herself as best as she could with just her hands, wrinkling her nose as her toes touched the muddy bottom. How was she going to do this? She couldn't live like this: naked, no food, bathing in rivers like some sort of wild woman. She couldn't go home. And this tiger was no help at all! But...maybe he could be?

Frowning, she scrubbed under an armpit. "You can't talk, but I know you can understand me so...maybe...maybe you could take me to the right tiger? I'll be out of your hair then. Or, uh, fur? I mean, I know you don't like this any more than I do, so..."

[GoblinFae]

The water was soothing to body, mind, and soul. Fintan felt his earlier frustrations melting away with the heat and grime of the day. His demeanor became almost playful as he splashed about and lapped at the water.

Eventually he swam closer to rub his sides up against her body, hoping to provide some similarly soothing comfort to the furless wonder. Her words though caused him to instantly freeze and side-eye her some. He had been caught. His eyes darted side to side a bit as if trying to decide whether it was worth it to try and pretend he hadn't understood her all along.

With a shrug and a huff, Fintan decided there was no use hiding it. The right tiger? Oh yes, bringing her to his brother would certainly make things all the better. He'd bite her head off, she'd die for nothing, and he'd have wasted his precious time trying to keep her alive. Perfectly foolproof!

Fintan rolled his eyes and shook his head, sending water droplets spraying every which way. His wordless answer was clear. Absolutely not. She could go die on her own time AFTER he delivered her to the village.

[Rhindeer]

"What do you mean, 'no'?!" Katxiel blurted as she angrily swiped at the water spray, stiffening. Oh, she had picked up on his signals, all right; he did not behave like a normal tiger with his all too human body language. Which was to be expected, considering he was a god. But that outright confirmed it! He even had the nerve to—

"And don't roll your eyes at me!" Then her own eyes widened and she slapped both hands over her mouth. Oh gods. Had she really been driven to this point? Was she really talking back to a god?

"A-ah...sorry, I didn't mean it, I just—I'm trying really hard to understand, here! You won't take me to the right god, but you won't accept my sacrifice, so...so what, exactly? What am I doing wrong?" She couldn't help it as the frustration boiled over and poured out. "Are you just going to keep me?"

[GoblinFae]

Fintan raised a cat-like brow at her before chuffing at her outbursts. The water was truly doing wonders for his temper as well as her confidence it seemed. A god? He certainly was superior to her but he wouldn't go that far. He tilted his head, watching her while contemplating the question before shrugging again and moving his head in non-committal agreement.

Hoping out of the water he shook himself hard, spraying more water and puffing up like a spiky ball before flicking his tail at her and peeking over his shoulder to see what she would do.